Bharat Ratna Award’s Recipients

In India, Bharat Ratan Award is the highest-civilian award which is given for exceptional service the advancement of art, literature, and science, and in reorganization of public service of the highest order. It is decorated in the form of a Peepal Leaf, about 5.8 cm long, 4.7 cm wide and 3.1 mm thick. It is of toned bronze. On its obverse is embossed a replica of the sun, 1.6 cm in diameter, below which the words “Bharat Ratna”, are embossed in Hindi. On the reverse are state emblem and the motto, also in Hindi. The emblem, the sun and the rim are of platinum. The inscriptions are in burnished bronze.

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The first foreigner to be honored with this award in year 1987 was Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan. Lal Bahadur Shastri was the person to be honored with this award posthumously while Indira Gandhi was the first lady to be honored with Bharat Ratna Award.